1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a blade set for jaws used in demolition, railroad rail breaking and railroad rail recycling equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to an opposing blade set having planar rails with recesses extending thereacross and a tapered knife blade adapted in conjunction with an anvil blade to secure a portion of the rail after it is severed.
2. Description of Related Art
While the present invention relates to demolition and recycling equipment, this equipment is also referred to as construction equipment and scrap handling/processing equipment. The description of demolition equipment, recycling equipment, scrap handling equipment, or construction equipment is not intended to be restrictive to the equipment being referenced. Demolition and recycling equipment, such as heavy duty metal cutting shears, grapples, concrete crushers and rail breakers has been mounted on backhoes powdered by hydraulic cylinders for a variety of jobs in demolition and recycling industries.
In the dismantling of an industrial site, railroad rails are often salvaged and it is necessary for efficient handling and transportation of these rails to reduce their length. Rail reduction methods are used to break rail to desirable pre-determined sizes for this purpose. Railroad rails present a unique challenge because the rail is hardened and very rigid. As a result, hardened rails are not amenable to processing using a shear and, therefore, a rail breaker, which bends and breaks the rail, is the most efficient tool for severing these rails.
FIG. 1 is prior art, extracted from U.S. Pat. No. 7,354,010, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. FIG. 1 illustrates a jaw set 10 having a bottom jaw 15 with a bottom blade 20 attached thereto and a top jaw 25 with a top blade 30 attached thereto forming a blade set 35. The bottom blade 20 (FIG. 2) includes two raised support rails 40, 45 with a cavity 50 therebetween, while the top jaw 25 includes a top blade 30 having a raised knife rail 55 centrally located above the cavity 50. The raised support rails 45, 50 and the knife rail 55 have generally planar surfaces along their lengths and, as a result, occasionally, the railroad rail slips from between the jaws 15, 25 prior to being severed. Additionally, the blades 20, 30 sever the railroad rail and both severed ends fall from the rail breaker so that when the process is continued, the rail breaker must reorient and grab the rail again prior to breaking it.
A design is needed to permit opposing jaws to more securely grab a railroad rail, making the breaking process more efficient.